Wikipedia:Griefing
This is an essay on the conduct policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Griefing is the act of chronically causing sudden annoyance to other members of an online community, or more specifically, intentionally disrupting the immersion of another player in their gameplay. The term
Griefers are similar to
Identifying griefers
With the growth of external websites where participants sometimes discuss content at Wikipedia that they find humorous and/or offensive (sometimes referred to as
Griefers may lack
Reasons for griefing
There are as many motivations for griefing on Wikipedia as there are griefers, but common causes are:
- Emotional immaturity and/or instability.
- Adolescent rebellion against authority. A desire to push the limits and attempt to disrupt.
- Sociopathicbehavior.
- Boredom. Some griefers feel that they want something to do, and if they're not interested in participating in a constructive manner, they will generate their "fun" by antagonizing others. This boredom generally arises due to a lack of sufficient stimulus or creative outlets that can sometimes be the result of excessive regulation and moderation by authoritarian personalities and overly broad interpretation about what sort of activities constitute 'griefing' (see, for example, Linden Lab's definition of "broadly offensive").
- Seeing no other recourse to address systemic problems which result in Wikipedia's inability to rid itself of bad characters.
- Amusement derived from other people's reactions.
Responding to griefers
In terms of dealing with griefers, the community must eventually make a cost–benefit analysis to determine whether a participant's contributions justify the loss of morale they inflict on other users.
Dealing with a griefer is often dependent on the exact nature of their activities.
- Sometimes griefers should simply be ignored. See Extinction (psychology).
- Sometimes, with effort on the part of other good members of the community, a griefer may be socialized if they can be given sufficient attention and brought back to a more cooperative standard of behavior. One way to handle suspected griefers is to politely ask about their concerns and explain constructive ways to raise those concerns in a socially acceptable manner.
- If positive engagement does not lead to improvement, habitual griefers should be politely, but firmly, asked to leavethe community.
- In any case, editors and administrators should recognize griefing when it occurs, and, as with any other form of disruptive editing, endeavor not to let it impair the quality of Wikipedia's content.
See also
Note
- ^ Čeština. "The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Inferno, Canto VII". En.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2013-12-22.